


Just Dropped In

by nightwingingit



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Dimension Travel, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-05-04 22:59:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14603592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightwingingit/pseuds/nightwingingit
Summary: “BOOM!”  The loud noise jarred them both out of their conversation as they turned to look at the television that Superboy must have been watching.It was turned to the news channel in which a large oil fire was taking place somewhere in the city.Superboy swore under his voice.  Tim watched as a team of young superheroes tried to save the day.“What are they doing?” Tim asked brow creasing.  He scanned the team and categorized the people.  He knew most of them, although their ages were mixed up.“They’re saving the city.”  Superboys hand clenches angrily, “I should be down there but I got stuck babysitting you!”“Take me.” Tim commands him.Superboy looks over to him incredulously, “What?”---Comics Red Robin drops into the Cartoon Young Justice world





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know another attempt at a comics/yj crossover
> 
> I probably won't finish this fic so read at your own risk!
> 
> (I think it's still satisfying enough to read up until this point so that's why I still posted it)

“INTRUDER ALERT!”

 

Kon hears the alarm and his body instantly tenses.  When he reaches the area in Mount Justice that passed as their living room.  Robin and Wally were already there.

 

“What’s happening?!” Kon yelled as the blindingly bright light and heavy whirling wind came from the middle of the room.

 

“We don’t know!  We were just watching a movie-” Wally shouted back, eyes wider than Kon’s ever seen them.

 

Within the light a body materialized.  With his superior eyesight he could make out a teenage face.  

 

‘Beautiful’ was Kons first thought.  Black soft looking medium length hair, a lithe body covered in red and black kevlar material, and closed eyes covered by a domino mask, mouth slightly open, he seemed to be in a pained torturous sleep.

 

Suddenly as the boy materialized fully the light and wind seemed to fall into itself and dissipated fully.  And then the boy was falling from where he had levitated and Kons body moved automatically to catch his form, jumping and landing not as gracefully as he would have wanted, seeming to jar the boy out of his nightmares.

 

The boy in Kons arms clung to him, one arm wrapped around his neck and the other clutching onto the fabric of his shirt, he was burying his face in his chest and Kon could feel wetness from the boys face.  Whether they were tears or cold sweat Kon had no idea as the boy was shivering like mad.

 

Robin and Wally rushed over to him and M’gann, Kaldur, and Artemis ran in as well.  Kon could scarcely hear Robin explaining what happened to Kaldur and the rest as he stared at the boy as if he had tunnel vision.  Something about some sort of wormhole.

 

He was shaking hard earlier in his grasp but the tremors had stopped, The boy was clutching onto him as if his life depended on it, and Kon also realized, he was still asleep but breathing easier now.

 

Kon had never felt so protective in his life.  There was something about the boy's weight in his arms that felt right.  And he had never felt ‘right’ before. Never in his inner-tube and outer-tube experience had he felt like this.

 

“Superboy…. SUPERBOY!” Kaldur called snapping Conner out of his dazed state, “What is his status?”

 

“Uhh…”

 

Robin came closer and inspected the boy held in Kons arms.

 

“I’d say a hero, based off his attire.  Not anyone I know. Maybe 17?” Robin gazes intently.

 

Kon does another once over and Robin is right.  The boy is dressed in a costume. A red fitted top and black bottoms.  An insignia of some sort in yellow and black on his chest and a criss crossed belt along his chest.  He also had a black cape.

 

The boy stirred slightly in Kons arms and everyone tensed for a moment.

 

His hand ran down from Kons neck and clutched Kon’s shirt where the boy’s chest was.  

 

“Kon…” The boy just barely whispered out as he proceeded to hide his face once more in Kon’s chest.

 

Everyone’s eyes widened as they looked at the boy and then to Kon.  Conner had the same reaction looking up at his friends.

 

“Do you know him?” M’gann asked.

 

“No… I don’t think so…”

 

“EMERGENCY!” Mount Justice’s alarms shot off.

 

Robin checked glowing wrist computer and looked up alarmed, “There’s a huge fire in downtown!”

\---

Tim wakes up in a daze.  His body groggy from sleep.  He hadn’t had such a good night in such a long time.  

 

He turns to stretch but then realizes that someone’s arm is around him.  It feels familiar but it can’t be… he instantly tenses and opens his eyes.

 

Tim jumps out of his position in the boy's arms.  He says the boy because this person could not possibly be Conner.  Conner was dead.

 

“Who are you?” Tim asks guardedly in a fighting stance.  He’s hyper aware of his surroundings. A bedroom, not too fancy.  He doesn’t recognize it.

 

“Where am I?”

 

The boy that looks like Conner stands, he looks angry and crosses his arms over his chest.  Tim notices the differences immediately, noting them as if to keep himself sane.

 

This Superboy stands a bit heavily and a little gangly as if he were still getting used to moving around like a teenager getting used to his growing body walks around awkwardly.  He tries to hide it with a tall strong posture and an intimidating stance. His jaw is set tight and he’s only seen his own Superboy make that face a few times before.

 

Other than that they seem virtually the same.  The same short haircut. The same black shirt with a red ‘S’ on it, jeans and all.

 

The Superboy grunted, “I should be asking you the questions.”

 

Superboy did not like being distrusted and his automatic reaction was to become angry and defensive.  

 

Tim tried again, “Ho- What happened?”

 

“You tell me pretty boy.  You’re the one who fell through a freaking light vortex.” The Superboy said annoyed.

 

“I what?” Tim asked, “Wh-”

 

“BOOM!”  The loud noise jarred them both out of their conversation as they turned to look at the television that Superboy must have been watching.

 

It was turned to the news channel in which a large oil fire was taking place somewhere in the city.

 

Superboy swore under his voice.  Tim watched as a team of young superheroes tried to save the day.

 

“What are they doing?” Tim asked brow creasing.  He scanned the team and categorized the people. He knew most of them, although their ages were mixed up.

 

“They’re saving the city.”  Superboys hand clenches angrily, “I should be down there but I got stuck babysitting you!”

 

“Take me.” Tim commands him.

 

Superboy looks over to him incredulously, “What?”

 

\---

 

The fire is only getting worse.  The team couldn’t understand why.

 

“Water is not working!” Kaldur shouted over the blaze.

 

“Oh really?  I didn’t notice!” Robin snarked back.  Nothing they’d been trying was working.

 

“Guys Superboy’s coming!  And with that boy!” M’gann told them telepathically.

 

Kid flash zoomed over and asked, “Where?!”, Just as Superboy and the mysterious boy landed.

 

Tim gracefully got out of his bridal style hold unfazed but Kon blushed as his teammates stared at him, especially Kid Flash’s smirk and wiggling eyebrow.

 

“What are you doing here Conner?” M’gann asked confused.

 

“What is he doing here?” Artemis pointed at Tim.

 

Kon was about to answer defensively when Tim raised a hand to silence everyone, “Not now!  What’s going on? Tell me everything! ”

 

“Why should we?” Kid Flash frowned.

 

Tim didn’t have time for their questions, “Did you get everyone out of all of those buildings?”

 

“Of course!” Wally answered.

 

“How do you know?” Tim pressed.

 

Everyone looked at him quizzically.

 

“Miss Martian used her telepathic powers to scan for people.” Robin explained.

 

That’s what he thought.  Tim’s head shook, mind completely on the mission, “Not good enough, people who are knocked out won’t have thoughts to broadcast to Miss Martian.  I have a thermal body heat detector in my mask. I’m scanning now.” He presses the side of his mask.

 

“Superboy carry me all along the perimeter of the fire.  I can see pretty far in with these so the perimeter is far enough for now.  Aqualad I presume?” He looks at Kaldur and he nods.

 

“The fire is most likely a gas fire your water won’t do much since the flames are so bad.  Focus your water on the outskirts of the fire, downwind. The best you can do is try to keep it from spreading.  Miss Martian you help him. Kid Flash I need you to run around the flames as fast as you can, the speed will decrease the amount of oxygen within and help diminish the flames.  Robin, status report please? Give me the details about this place. I know you have it. What happened?”

 

The team was shocked but scrambled to fulfill the orders.  Kon lifting Tim into his arms as Robin spoke, “Reportedly a small restaurant kitchen fire started this whole thing.  The dry heat and the close buildings allowed the fire to spread and now it is consuming five buildings.”

 

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Tim asked the younger boy.  

 

Robin blinked in surprise at his quick insight and nodded, “Not just a kitchen fire.”

 

“Look into it while helping Kaldur and M’gann.  The sooner we know who the culprit is the less likely he is to get away.” Tim tells him and then him and Conner are off.

 

Tim is slightly annoyed that Conner continuously jumps around instead of flying.  He notes that for future reference of things to ask when there’s not a gigantic fire eating downtown.

 

“There!”  He shouts, he sees a small figure in his lenses, “Put me down!”

 

Tim runs towards the burning building and up the stairs towards the small form.  It’s a kid, not any older than 6. He’s knocked out. Tim picks him up in his arms and suddenly a support beam breaks and comes crashing down on both of them.

 

Tim protects the boy with his body and suddenly Superboy is there pushing the beam off of them.

 

“What the fuck are you thinking?!” he asked incredulously, “You could have been killed!”

 

Tim has no time for this as he looks at the boy worriedly, he’s scarcely breathing, “Get us out now!”

 

Conner grabs them both easily in his arms and crashes through the window out of the building.

 

As soon as they land Tim jumps out of Kons arms and gives M’gann the child, “He’s not critical, as long as he gets enough oxygen he should be fine.  Can you find his parents?”

 

M’gann nodded.  He turns around and notices a significant decrease in the amount of flames.  Kid Flash was doing an amazing job.

 

“Flames detained.  Find anything yet Robin?”  Tim asks walking over to the boy, he now has time to look at.  The boy is about 13 years old, the youngest looking in this group, and by the way he was built and the way he moved… was he... Dick?

 

Robin tells him, “Former chef, quit and swore he would reign down hell on everyone who mocked him.  Spotted not too long ago near this area.”

 

“Awesome.  Let’s let Kid Flash finish up while we catch him by surprise.”

  
\---

 

“Who are you?” Kaldur asked back at Mount Justice after having apprehended the culprit of the fire.  

 

This was by far the smoothest operation they’ve had in a long time.  The newcomer did not move as if he were new at all but a veteran. But none of them had ever seen or heard of him before.

 

“Red Robin.” Tim answered putting a hand out to shake.  He’d heard of Kaldur but he was never Aqualad to his knowledge, “Aqualad, Kaldur’ahm of Atlantis, right?”

 

“How do you know my name?” Kaldur asked startled.

 

“Where did you come from?” Wally piped in from behind him.  Wally was visibly very similar to his own Wally, well according to some of Dick’s old pictures Tim has seen.

 

M’gann was a lot preppier than the version he was used to and stood a lot less self assured than his own.  Less experienced but probably just as powerful. A mindlink between several people was no easy feat for anyone and she pulled it off as if it were nothing.  The fact that none of the team seemed to take her as seriously as they should stood out significantly to Tim. They obviously did not know how powerful she truly was, which meant she had secrets she was keeping from them.  Tim doesn’t believe she has any nefarious thoughts or plans but she was definitely someone to watch out for.

 

Conner… it was still hard calling him that, catch that, now that the fire crisis was over and things were settling down it was hard to just look at him, but Tim did.  He looked just as his own Conner had hours before he died. The same shirt, the same jeans, and that hair. But he didn’t carry himself with the same cocky attitude of his own but a more reserved and smoldering anger.  The powerset differences threw Tim off as well, for one apparently he couldn’t fly. There were probably many more differences. The stark contrast did its job well enough for Tim to at least bare talking to him and being in the same room as him.

 

And then there was Robin.  If this were any other time Tim would have turned to a Robin or a Wondergirl as leader of a team but from the way they were standing Kaldur, Aqualad seemed to be the one in charge here.

“I suspect an alternate dimension or a different world.” Tim answered shrugging.

 

Tim made eye contact with Robin and indeed it had to be Dick.  Tim had been watching Dick since he’d been in the circus.

 

It was weird seeing Dick be the young one in a group for a change, surrounded not by people his age or younger, as well as standing on the sidelines.  But Tim knew even though Dick was a great leader he was never one to seek out the position, being a leader was something that he needed to be in many instances, not something he particularly wanted to be.  So here he was, the baby of the group but probably the most experienced of the bunch. Probably still secretly or not so secretly watching over them, whether Dick knew it already or not.

 

“You suspect what?!” The girl in green asked.  She was the one who was an Arrow. She, in stark contrast to M’gann, stepped with too urgent confidence that showed that bit of her insecurity.  She was probably just as good at the bow as the other Arrows but has some sort of chip on her shoulder. Another one with possible secrets.

 

There were a few Arrow names he could choose from.  Speedy? Arrowet?

 

“An alternate dimension or a different world.” Tim repeated unfazed but amused by everyone's open mouthed reaction.  Guess this world was pretty untouched by those sorts of things.

 

“I’m a bat by the way.” Tim says, when they weren’t catching on he gestured to Dick, “Like Robin.”

 

One of Dick’s brows lifted, “Robin and Red Robin?  Not very creative.”

 

Tim smirked and shrugged again, “Didn’t come up with the name.  Long story.”

 

Wanting to change the subject before they got too much of a history Tim asked, “Hey so are bat secret ID’s in tact right now because I think I know who most of you are but I don’t want to jeopardize anyone or come off like, you know, a Dick or anything.”

 

Dick tensed and Wally slapped Dick’s back as he bent over laughing as if Tim had told the most hilarious joke.  

 

So then, Dick confirmed three hundred and ten percent, and Wally knew.

 

From the oblivious looks on the other team members faces they knew nothing about Dick’s ID.

 

From his bout of laughter Wally answers, “Everyone knows everyone except for Rob here.”

 

Dick scowled at him for revealing such a thing to an almost stranger and Wally pretended not to notice.

 

Tim nods, “Thanks, Wally.  Good to know. Nice to meet you all, Kaldur’ahm, Conner, M’gann, Rob, and-”

 

“Artemis.” Wally chimed again and Artemis elbowed him hard in the stomach.

 

“Idiot!” She scolded.

 

“What?  He’s a bat!  There’s no point in keeping secrets from bats!  Plus it’s not even a secret!” he said as he clutched his stomach.

 

“How do we know what he’s telling us is even true?!” Artemis asked.

 

“Artemis is right.” Conner conceded and Tim couldn’t help but feel hurt by it.

 

“We should tell the Justice League.” Kaldur sighed.

 

“I could read his mind.” M’gann suggested.

 

“You haven’t already?” Dick asks, sounding a bit alarmed.

 

M’gann looked startled at the realization and Tim could feel the pressure of her mind inside his.

 

“M’gann, don’t be alarmed.  I have mind reading walls up.” Tim says out loud. Putting his hands up defensively when they all turn to look at him again.

 

“You have what?” Wally asked, wide eyed.

 

“I told you we couldn’t trust him!” Artemis shouted, wary eyes staring at him.

 

“You… I’ve been trained to be able to put up walls so that I can be less impacted by mind readers and… torture situations.” Tim said, “As well as moments like these in which you may be in a different universe or whatever from me but I believe this could be a past timeline meaning anything I know could occur in your future and… you don’t really want to know what happens when you mess with timelines too much.”

 

“Dude…” Wally whispered.

 

“Yeah we definitely need to call the Justice League.”  Kaldur conceded.

 

\---

 

Tim sat in a room that was white and quite bright.  He had a white desk in front of him as he sat in a white chair.  Tim pretty much hated it but didn’t let it bother him too much. At least Bruce couldn’t sneak up on him from the shadows in here.  Bruce probably hated this room more than he did and that made Tim snicker until he remembered again, god Bruce was lost in time and here he was stuck in another dimension.

 

The Batman of this world, this Bruce, and Martian Manhunter were discussing with M’gann.  Tim had been able to maneuver an agreement for the process of allowing them to read his mind.

 

Okay focus.

 

Having explained that he was from a different universe/world and that his timeline could predict things that happen in their future Tim had advised that one mind reader could read his mind and confirm he was telling the truth but then their memory of reading his memory would be wiped so that the timeline wouldn’t be affected.

 

Read that sentence over ten times why don’t you.  Anyways M’gann had decided she would read his mind.  

 

This worlds Bruce opened the door and allowed M’gann and Martian Manhunter to enter.

 

As the door closed M’gann sat across from Tim and was the only one to smile at him, “Hey, Red Robin.  You ready?”

 

Tim took a breath and said, “Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

“Mask off.” Bruce growled and Tim rolled his eyes.

 

He was going to argue but he’d already come to the conclusion that no one knew who he was in this universe so he was either non-existent or quite young so it shouldn’t matter too much if he kept it on, at least not all of the time.

 

He pressed a button on the side that deactivated all of the security measures and then peeled it off.

 

Tim looked up at Martian Manhunter and then at Bruce, a determined expression on his face, “I’m trusting you all to follow through.”

 

Bruce didn’t react to him at all physically and Tim didn’t allow himself to feel hurt by that.  He didn’t.

 

Martian Manhunter nodded as M’gann said, “Close your eyes.”

 

“Okay.” Tim was about to close his eyes when he then thought about it and pulled back, “Wait, M’gann… are you sure you want to be the one doing this?”

 

She looked at him determined, “Yes, don’t worry.  You’ll be okay. As long as your mind is open to me I can see into your psyc without problems.”

 

He remembered what has happened for the last few years, the world’s colliding, apokolips, Gotham becoming a no man's land, the sick things the Joker has done, and the things he couldn’t do.  He remembered Bruce, Dodge, his dad, Steph, and all of those people he couldn’t save, and the one that could affect her the most… Conner. It wouldn’t help if his own emotions amplified her experience.  

 

He held her hands that were about to touch his temples in his own as assuringly as he could, “You don’t have to stay there long.  You… you don’t have to see… everything… as long as you know I’m telling the truth about my world. Okay?”

 

Giving her a hard look she nodded, puzzled but undeterred, “Okay…”

 

Tim closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.  Bringing down his walls as she touched her fingertips to his temples.

 

It was always an odd sensation when a mindreader entered your thoughts.  The touch was so light that a normal person may not even notice they were there picking you apart.  As a member of the bat family though Tim was taught how to discern such touch and how to block it out and compartmentalize it separately from his own mind.

 

He was hyper aware of her prods and if he focused really hard he could tell what memories she was reaching, as if she were flipping through his mind like someone would a photo album.  If she’d had to force open the photo album and she wasn’t trained well enough she could harm it by trying but since Tim was allowing himself to be an open book she could flip through however she pleased.

 

She’d pushed all the way through to when Donna had died and the Titans and Young Justice had fallen apart.  She didn’t have to go back that far but he didn’t pull away from her. Her abilities were strong and Tim didn’t know what kind of control she had over them.

 

M’gann started to flip backwards, tracing her figurative hand over the pages, lingering at the most heart wrenching moments in Tim’s life, and then when she finally reached Conner’s death it was like she pressed play and they were both reliving it over again in real time.

 

She saw the way he looked crumpled on the ground.  Saw the blood, saw him cradled in Cassie’s arms. Felt Tim fall to his knees, his body worn and tired, sorrow permeating through to his core as he saw the life literally leaving his eyes.

 

And then there was a rush of memories as if the book was being closed too fast of everything that had happened after that point, the mourning, the fighting, everything pushing as if the book was closing and Tim opened his eyes with a start.

 

Martian Manhunter was holding M’gann who was sobbing into his chest.

 

Tim realized he’d shed some tears and simply wiped them away with his arms as best he could and then put on his mask, as he sniffed his uncomfortable sadness away.

 

Bruce stood there awkwardly, a deep frown on his face as he stared Tim, “What did you do to her?”

 

“Nothing.” Tim said, his voice coming out a little hoarse.  He scolded himself for sounding weak. They were his memories, he had to live through them, nothing new has happened, he shouldn’t be crying over them again now.

 

Luckily M’gann spoke up for him, “H-He’s telling the truth… It’s just… I’m sorry…”

 

She looked at Tim when she said she was sorry and Tim smiled apologetically to her, “Don’t be.  Just don’t. I’m sorry you had to… see that.”

 

She shook her head and took her seat across from him, this time taking his hand, “It’s not your fault you know.  None of it is your fault.”

 

Tim stiffened and looked away, finding the corner of the desk particularly interesting.  He wanted to refute her but knew it would just make her tell him more reassurances that he absolutely didn’t need.  Because it was his fault.

 

“I know.” he got out.

 

And he knew she was unconvinced but she didn’t say anything further.

 

“Is his from a different world M’gann?” J'onn asked.

 

M’gann nodded, “He is.  His world is quite different and quite similar to this one.  Everything he’s said to us has been true.”

 

“Then Martian Manhunter will wipe your memories now.” Batman told her.

 

M’gann again nodded sorrowfully.  Tim would at least be comforted by the fact that she wouldn’t have to remember it forever like he did.

 

Before she allowed him to do it she smiled at him, tears still held in her eyes and said, “I could feel it.  How much you loved-LOVE him…”

 

Tim couldn’t help but shiver all the way from his head to his toes because that statement… it was so true it hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

Although he was from another world Tim was welcomed quite easily into the group he now knew was called Young Justice, the name in which sent nostalgia pricks through his body whenever someone would say it.  

 

He was glad they weren’t hostile towards him but upon further analysis this team must really not have been together for long.  They were a bit discordant and unorganized. It was again weird to see Dick stay back and let Aqualand take reigns in such situations.

 

They were sitting on the couch getting ready for a movie night when Wally had informed Tim that he, Aqualad, and Robin had been friends for a long time along with Roy.  

 

“Roy hated the idea of Young Justice being under the control of the Justice League and not members of the Justice League.  He said we weren’t being treated like equals as we should and walked out, on us and on Ollie.” Wally sighed.

 

Tim, who’d taken a seat between Wally and Kaldur shrugged, “Well he’s right isn’t he?”

 

All of the other teens perked their ears and looked towards him surprised.

 

“You agree with him?” Wally asked.

 

Tim looked down at the coffee he cupped in both his hands, the steam rising from the dark liquid, the warmth it emanated into his face and hands a comforting warmth.

 

“Back where I come from I used to co-lead a team called Young Justice and Red Tornado was still there but we basically just did things by ourselves unless we were called to help the Justice League or something.  Same with the Titans, the team after that. Especially the Titans, if I’m being honest was something we were trusted to do separately of the Justice League.” He took a sip not adding what he wanted to say which was, ‘Nightwing made sure of that for us.’ in there.

 

There was a silent beat in which he knew the team was thinking to themselves about this.  Luckily Kaldur changed the subject, “You were leader of your teams?”

 

“More like co-leader.  We had a vote and it was a tie.” Luckily the movie finally started so he didn’t have to elaborate anymore.

 

\---

 

Tim gets to know all the members of the team. 

 

M’gann’s cooking isn’t too awful if he sits with her and reminds her to pull the cookies out of the oven.  But he quickly finds out that her continuous high energy, although pleasant, drains him and so he doesn’t make it a habit to sit and talk with her for long periods of time.  

 

She’s gone back to normal after having had her memories wiped and seemed to completely trust him now that he’s cleared with the Justice League.  She was nice and completely obsessed with human things.

 

He knew he wasn’t supposed to but the detective in him couldn’t stop from hacking into the Justice League and the Batcave computers and upon reading the Bats info he knew M’gann wasn’t a green martian but a white one.  He allowed her to keep up her facade though as he didn’t see any harm in it. It did explain how powerful she was though.

 

Wally was how he imagined his Wally would have been at that age.  Not as energetic as Bart but still talkative and still ate like a horse.  Tim asked him how fast he could go and Tim was surprised that he was not nearly as fast as Barry in this world.  In his own world Wally had rivaled Barry’s speed. 

 

It was a good thing to know when planning for missions what everyone’s powerset was.

 

As Tim found the boys in the gym he was heckled into the ring with Wally.

 

“I’ll go easy on you.” Wally smirked, getting into a running stance.

 

Tim smirked right back and sidestepped Wally when he ran at him, tripping him.  Wally was sent stumbling but then he quickly got up and this time was going to circle Tim.  Using his bo staff he catapulted himself straight up into the air and deployed something from this pocket.

 

Wally slipped hard and landed on his back with a loud, “Whump!”.

 

Dick laughed as Wally groaned picking up one of the things on the floor.  They weren’t any sort of bat-tech like he’d been expecting, they were just freaking marbles.  He’d been bested like a sunday morning cartoon villain. The only thing more humiliating would have been a banana peel.

 

“No fair using toys.” He muttered.

 

“You have your powers I have my toys.” Tim laughed as he helped Wally up.  As he stepped to the sidelines Dick patted his friends back in a half joking and half comforting way.

 

“Well now you have to pick them all -” Wally didn’t even finish his sentence before Tim had opened the tube the marbles had rolled out of and they were easily sucked into it as if it had some sort of magnetic pull.

 

Wally crossed his arms and rolled his eyes good naturedly, “You bats.”

 

He watched as Kaldur and Superboy sparred.  Kaldur using his water whips to keep the fight long distance.  A good strategy since Superboy was a close distance fighter. From what Tim could see Superboy only had super strength.  Either he hadn’t awoken his other powers yet or he didn’t have them. It could go either way since Conner was relatively new having come out of Cadmus not even a year ago.  In the records of the Justice League and the Batcave they decidedly chose to mark Superboy as a conceivable danger to watch out for and Tim had to stop himself from automatically feeling offended on his behalf.  

 

He didn’t know this Conner.  He had to keep reminding himself.  He could very well be an unknown variable for all he knows.  Remember the Superboy-prime.

 

Although he thought that he couldn’t help but sympathize and root for Conner anyways.

 

Kaldur was tiring Conner out and it was a good lesson to Conner about stamina reservation.  Tim could tell Kaldur was thinking the same thing. He really was a good, level headed leader.

 

Kaldur was not only here because he wanted to understand the surface world but was basically a peaceful bridge between Atlantis and humans alongside Aquaman.  It was understandable that someone with that responsibility was so mature and had the skill to get along well with others. As a leader he did lack in authority when it came to this team but that can also be put on the teams lack of respect for authority in general.

 

Either way, having read old reports of the teams missions, the team needed to learn to follow directions and be implemented to better maximize their abilities.

 

Artemis had just arrived and had started sparring with Dick.  They were both nimble and disciplined in their attacks. When she was hand to hand she fought very straightforwardly, attacking mercilessly, but Dick was obviously just playing with her, dodging her attacks and letting her tire herself.

 

Tim read the Bat-files on Artemis.  Her story reminded him somewhat of Spoiler.  Her father was a villain and she was trying to be good.  She was definitely not Stephanie but sometimes she would get a defiant look in her eyes that screamed to Tim of her willpower.  Dick definitely had to know her past but if she knew he knew she didn’t act like it.

 

Tim wanted to tell her that it was okay and that your parents didn’t define you, wanted to tell her about Stephanie but that would reveal that he knew and lead to everyone knowing he hacked all the files.

 

She was sweating now as Dick flipped over her when she was lunging towards him and kicked off her back.  Right as he landed he then swept his leg under her feet and she fell to the floor.

 

Wally clapped and whooped but then coyly stopped when Artemis sent a glare his way.

 

Artemis wasn’t bad at all at hand to hand but Dick was much more experienced and didn’t underestimate Artemis either and that’s what brought Dick his swift victory.

 

Tim laughed with Dick as Wally to help Artemis up but was pulled down next to her.

 

Scowling Wally deflected looking towards the two bats, “Hey how about Robin against Robin?”

 

“RED Robin” Dick corrected.

 

Tim was taken aback but then remembered that they didn’t know, “I was Robin once too y’know?”

“What?!  Why are you red then?” Wally asked incredulously.  Dick looked a little troubled but only Tim could see the small tells on his younger brothers face, just a slight eye shift, just a slight head tilt away.

Tim shrugged, “Things happened.”

“Things” Wally rolls his eyes, “Another future thing you’re not telling us I suppose.”

“You suppose correctly.” Tim smiled.

“So how about that spar then?” Artemis asked, wanting to see someone else fall on their ass after she just had.

“I don’t know.” Tim said, putting his hands up.

“Come on Timbo!  Don’t tell me you’re scared now!” It was weird hearing Wally or any of them call him by name but he’d decided to tell them since it’d be tiring to be called Red Robin for however long he’d have to stay here.

  
“I’ll go easy on you.  Unless you’re chicken.” Dick prodded stepping into the middle of the mat and Tim raised an eyebrow at that.  Dick was likely not cocky but wanted to see him fighting up close. And who was he kidding he was probably a little cocky too.

Tim stepped up squaring off with Dick, he couldn’t very well be called chicken now could he?

“No weapons?” Tim asked.

“No weapons.” Dick agreed.

They both circled each other, watching the others movements.  Tim would usually wait for Dick to strike first, he had the patience, but he decided to go first himself, all the better for them to study him, since they hardly know anything about him.  He’ll show them his moves first.

Going for a direct strike fake and then ducking as Dick jumped up and out of the way, flipping behind him.  He’d just done that with Artemis and Tim knew it was one of Dick’s favorite moves.

Tim swirled around bringing him face to face with Dick.  It wasn’t fair how easily Tim could read Dick, having watched and sparred with him for years, and still Tim had never fought with a Dick that was younger and even more spry than the one he was used to but he was definitely less experienced than his own.

Dick backflipped backwards and then circled striking at Tim with his legs out towards his stomach.  Tim jumped back himself, keeping himself low to the ground and able to step quickly out of Dick’s range.  He knew his movements were not as fluid as Dicks and that he wasn’t as good at changing trajectory in the air if Dick decided to misdirect him.

It was a dance back and forth.  Dick had aerial advantage and attacked from many angles while Tim dodged and made his own attacks.  

Dick could tell after the third deflect that Tim was waiting him out.  The best thing for Tim would be to get Dick tired and then really attack.  Realizing this Dick decided a fast and hard attack would be better, he needed to get Tim off balance somehow and then strike.  He loved the game of the fight but he did still want to win.

Seeing that Tim was keeping to the floor Dick decided to sweep his feet under Tim.  As Tim jumped he struck out his other foot as Tim was in the air. It connected but then Tim held on and threw him.  He couldn’t throw him far but the point was to get Dick off his rhythm.

Dick front flipped up but not before Tim rushed him and from the side.  Dick ducked and was able to misdirect Tim so he would fall to the floor.  Tim rolled his fall out and landed on his knees.

“Woah, they’re really going at it.” Conner commented coming over from his fight with Kaldur.  He was sweating profusely from his spar with Kaldur. Kaldur was behind him with a towel around his shoulders, sweating himself.

“Maybe we should stop them?” M’gann asked.  She’d must come into the gym moments ago.

“Naw. They’re just playing around.” Wally told them.

“That is playing?” Kaldur asked as they rapid fire blocked each others blows.

“Yeah, look at their faces.”  He gestured with his shoulder.  Their eyes were intense but they were both smirking.

Finally Dick jumped to do his backflip over Tim.  This time Tim was ready for it and was able to grab Dick around the waist and put him on the ground.

Both breathed heavily as the fight ended.

“Checkmate.” Tim couldn’t help but boast.

There was a moment of shock on Dick’s face before he smiled back, “Nice.”

Tim helped him up, “It’s nothing.  If I couldn’t beat a 13 year old version of someone I’ve sparred with for years then that would have been embarrassing.”

“How old is Rob in your world?” Wally asked.

“He’s in his early 20’s.”

“And he’s still Robin?” Artemis asked.

“You all know you should not ask so many questions about Red Robin’s future.” Red Tornado said coming up behind them, startling everyone but Tim and Dick.

“Ah you’re right…” Wally scratched his head as they all headed over to eat dinner.

It was pizza.

\---

Getting Tim back home would prove to be a bigger problem than any of them had anticipated.  And they knew it was going to be difficult from the beginning so… yeah it was looking impossible.

With this worlds lack of experience in interdimensional and alternate world traveling they had no clue how to send him back.  Tim also didn’t know much about what had brought him to this world. It could have been magic or technology but he had no evidence of either.  With nothing to go by he assumed that it could have even just been a random rift in space and/or time that displaced him.

Either way he wasn’t able to go out and investigate it.  Tim wasn’t allowed out of Mount Justice without an escort.  They didn’t want him to mess up their timeline and Tim didn’t argue with that too much.  It wasn’t that bad honestly but he did hate being babysat and not having anything to do.

Wally, Dick, Artemis, and M’gann went to school on the weekdays.  Kaldur went back to Atlantis on most days. Conner on the other hand opted to put off his schooling to watch Tim so that Red Tornado didn’t have to all of the time.  M’gann had offered to stay too but everyone could tell she really wanted to learn more about earth high schools so Tim graciously turned her down.

He’d also turned down Conner actually but Conner was in no way excited or unexcited to go to school and was stubborn as hell.  

This is how Tim found himself alone with his dead boyfriends alternate self for quite long expanses of time.  Thankfully Red Tornado had been merciful and had allowed him to have a computer. 

Instead of paying attention to Conner he spent his time typing up reports and coding them.  

He wasn’t really avoiding him of course.  He wasn’t. The reports would be important for when he got home and research was important to learn about this world and how to get home in the first place.

Even though he didn’t know much at all.

Okay maybe he was avoiding him but who could blame him?

After a few days of this Conner came up to him as he sat on the couch, arms crossed, staring bullets at him, “You don’t like me.”

“Umm presumptuous much?” Tim cocked his brow to look up at him, his first move of self defense being snark.  Scratch that it had been avoidance. His second move of self defense was snark.

Bad idea.  That look in his eye.  Tim recognizes it and it stings.  Conner’s hurt because he’s being rejected but doesn’t know how to handle it.  He wants attention, he wants to talk, he wants to help Tim but he doesn’t know how to say it.  He reminded him of those times his own Conner had told him to go to sleep back at Teen Tower late at night.  

And Conner had never been good at personal space.  They both shared this aspect of their personality. Conner hunched over, leaning over him, glaring.   

Too close.  It HURTS. He can feel it in his chest seizing his heart and squeezing.

He redirected his eyes back to his laptop and scooted away slightly from Conner. 

Okay not helping your situation at all Tim.

“I don’t hate you.” He said flatly.

Conner was persistent though, “Obviously you do.”

“I already said I don’t.”

“You do.”

“I don’t”

“Then look at me!” Conner slammed Tims laptop shut on his lap.  Tim was surprised it didn’t break.

“Hey!”

He proceeded to pick it up and Tim’s hands chased after it in a futile effort to keep it.

As he was reaching he caught Conner’s eyeline again and immediately looked away as he backed off.

This got Conner to shake his head, “What the hell is wrong with you?” Conner asked in frustration.

“I should be asking you that!  You’re the one going around stealing other people’s things!” 

Get on the defense Tim.  That’ll deflect him for sure!

“This belongs to us not you.” he swung the laptop around as if it were a piece of paper in his fingertips giving Tim a mini-heart attack.  He didn’t have a backup!

“They gave it to me!” He told him, keeping his eyes fixed on the computer.

“Well I’m taking it from you!”

“You can’t do that!” Tim lunged for it but Conner lifted his arm and kept it out of his reach.  

“Watch me!” 

Tim stood to get it as Conner backed away but then abruptly stopped when he found himself leaning over Conner, hand leaning on Conners chest as he was on his toes and still unable to reach it.  

Backing away quickly he huffed in defeat before feeling terribly.  It was fun and familiar. 

But it shouldn’t be.  Guilt flooded him, clogging his throat and stiffening his body.  Clenching his fists Tim turned away quickly, trying to put as much distance between them as he could.

“Fine!” Tim started to walk away but was caught by the wrist.  Conner pulled him back in a quick swift movement and grabbed his cheeks so that they were face to face.

“Look. At. Me.”

And in that moment Conner’s anger subsided and was replaced by shock.  Tim was shaking, his eyes were blown wide, and angry tears were spilling down his face.

“Don’t!”  Tim screamed, and in Conner’s shock he was able to push the super away, “Don’t you dare touch me!”

He can’t go up to Tim looking like HIM, dressing like HIM, talking like HIM, smelling like HIM, and touching him like HE did!  He has no right! 

He only had one Kon and that Kon was HIS.  How dare he. How DARE he! 

Tim knows his anger is misplaced.  That Conner isn’t trying to be anything he’s not but Tim can’t help the feelings inside of him swirling in an ugly cesspool.

Not real!  This isn’t real!  

It’s real!  Real! His eyes, his voice, his arms.  All real.

No!  Fake!  Liar! Imposter!  Imposter! Imposter!  How dare you! Give him back!  I need him! Give him back!

It’s not his fault...  It’s not his fault. 

It’s not… so why?  Why can’t he stop HURTING? He just wants it to stop.  

A steady gaze.  A resonating voice.  Warm strong hands. Familiar.  Safe. Good.

“Don’t touch me… please.” Tim spoke shakily putting a hand between himself and Conner unable to stop the tears he hid his eyes in his other hands.

Weak.

He hated this.  He wasn’t weak like this.

He walked back to his room and shut himself in, leaving Conner behind in the living room stunned into silence.

 

\---

 

“You need to talk to him!” Artemis stated following after Conner, arms crossed over her chest.

“No!  Someone else should!” Conner said in tense anger, “He hates me!”

Wally rolled his eyes as he followed after, “I’m sure you’re exaggerating.”

“What’s going on?” M’gann asked walking over with Dick right behind her.

“Superboy and Tim had an argument.  It’s been hours and he still has not come out.” Kaldur told him.

“It’s not my fault!” Conner shouted as he felt the others eyes bore into him, “He just hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you!” Wally answered.

“Look, even if I went over there he wouldn’t talk to me.” Conner stopped his pacing around the base having not gotten rid of anyone and having just attained a hoard of followers, “I don’t know what’s up but I already tried talking to him about whatever problem he has with me and he won’t listen.”

“So you made things worse.” Artemis tilted her head and Conner looked away unable to deny it.

Kaldur sighed, “Well someone must go speak with him.  Maybe I should-”

Before he could finish Dick stopped him, “Wait, I think- I think I’ll do it.”

Surprised everyone looked towards their youngest member and Dick shrugged sheepishly, “He’s a bat… which means we probably share a lot in common.  He seems to know me from his universe also so maybe he’ll be more open to talking to me, y’know?”

Everyone looked at each other and then nodded.

Wally sighed, “Worth a try.” 

\---

Tim heard a knock at his door.  

He closes his eyes tightly and breaths deeply in and then out.  He’d been an idiot. He’d let his emotions get the best of him. He’d lashed out for no reason.  He’d compromised Conner’s and the teams trust in him. 

Red Robin was not a loose cannon, he was calm and collected, he was analytical and diplomatic.  

“Hey, its me!” came a voice Tim immediately recognized as Dicks.

Tim didn’t move from his spot hiding under the blanket of his bed.  He’d been there ever since he’d run from Conner. He didn’t get his laptop back so now he was left with nothing to do but think about all of his mistakes and everything he had to do but couldn’t.

He should have expected the locked door to open.  It was Dick, and from what he’d seen from this version of him he was quite tech savvy in the first place.

“Sorry for barging in like this.” Dick said, sounding cheerful and not the least bit sorry.  So Dick-like.

Tim made no movements but Dick could tell the lump in the bed was him.  He closed the door and sat on the end of the bed, legs crossed, making himself comfortable.

This made Tim groan and Dick laughed a little when he saw his bed head poking out.

“You and him are so alike.” Tim deadpanned, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to avoid him he rolled his eyes and sat up.

“The me in your world?” Dick asked.

“Yeah, when he was younger.”

“You said I was in my 20’s in your world so I’m like your older brother or something?”

“Yeah I guess so.”

Dick nodded.  He looked like he wanted to ask more but knew he shouldn’t, “Sooo… You and Conner, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Tim asked tensing.

“Your fight.” Dick said, quirking his eyebrow, “What did you think I meant?”

Tim looked down at his hands that clenched the blanket, “Yeah, the fight.  It was my fault.”

Dick blinked at this, “Oh?  Really? Superboy can be pretty hot headed sometimes.”

Shaking his head Tim answered, “No, really it’s my fault.  I’ll go apologize to him. After… After I calm down a little.”

“What’s there to calm down from?” Dick asked.  Just like Dick to pry and try to get him to talk about it.

“Just…” Tim paused for a bit trying to figure out how to explain, “Just calm down.  I got a bit riled up I guess.”

“With the way you handled that fire when you first got here, you were so cool and collected, must take a lot to rile you up, right?”

“It’s… my own baggage.  Some… things just happened in my world and I just… it takes time to adjust to… being here.” Tim struggled to get out, “But I’m trying.”

Dick nodded, understanding that Tim wasn’t going to answer any more in depth than that, and put a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, it must be really hard for you being around people and places that are so familiar but so different than what you’re used to.”

Tim couldn’t help but feel relieved, the tension inside him, thinking that the other team members were going to hate him now lessening, even though he still felt stressed from knowing he would have to face Conner soon.

“Thanks.” Tim looked at the 13 year old boy that was so like his brother but was obviously younger and less confident.  

Tim knew that Dick must have been having a lot of thoughts about him ever since he’d arrived even though he never voiced them.  He even seemed unsure whether what he was doing right now was the right thing to do for Tim but was trying anyways and he appreciated that, “This may be weird to say since you’re like 4 years younger than me right now but for what it’s worth, you’re a good big brother, Dick.  You are.”

This made Dick look very startled for a moment and then he smiled, not his playful one but a genuine one that made Tim smile back knowing he said the right thing for once.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late at night, maybe 3 in the morning and Conner had just gotten up to get a glass of water and maybe a snack from the fridge. He hadn’t opened any of the lights so when he turned around he jumped out of his skin when he saw Tim sitting there behind him on the counter illuminated by the fridge lights.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” Tim hushed, his hands up in apology.

“Jesus!” Conner exclaimed, calming himself down, “How long have you been sitting there?”

“A while.”

“You know I don’t know much about normal life or etiquette or whatever but I’m pretty sure people don’t sit on kitchen counters all night.”

Tim picked up a bag of chips next to him, “Night time snack.”

This was getting more and more embarrassing for Conner because he hadn’t seen the boy sitting there eating his goddamn crunchy ass chips even though he was pretty sure he had advanced detecting abilities, surely not as advanced as Superman's but his eyesight was great and his hearing above what a normal humans should be.

“Don’t think about it too much. I’m a bat afterall. Being quiet is what I do.” Tim told him. How could he always read his mind so completely?

He quickly added, “But again I wasn’t trying to be scare you or anything, its just… how I am.”

They looked at each other for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

“Whatever.” Conner finally said as he turned away, having gotten his glass of water.

“Wait…” Tim called.

Conner turned around. Tim was looking down at his hands. Tim was grateful for the darkness because it hid at least some of the emotional torment on his face and the unshed tears in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, about reacting like that before, not about scaring you… but I mean- I’m sorry about that too but this is about the thing before…” Tim wrung his hands together and Conner could tell he was mentally berating himself for fumbling with his words and was waiting for his reaction.

Sighing Conner set down his glass and walked towards Tim. He crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t have any experience with… people. And for some reason Tim was… complicated. He wanted to understand, more so than he’d ever wanted to understand another human being and that frustrated him to no end.

“Okay.” Conner stated, Robin had run him through how to accept apologies and give them, he said if he accepted it then to say straight out, “I accept your apology.”

  
He then needed to as Robin put it ‘buck up’ and apologize if he felt like he did something wrong as well, and explain what he was sorry for. Human interactions were… complicated, “I’m sorry too I guess. I got in your face and like took your laptop and that wasn’t cool.”

Tim looked up and in surprise and then relief, a soft smile formed on his lips, “Thanks. I accept your apology.”

“You… didn’t do it right.” Conner said in frustration.

“What do you mean?” Tim asked.

“You’re supposed to explain why you’re sorry. If you don’t explain why you’re sorry then I won’t know that you know what you’re apologizing for.” Conner stated.

“Who told you that?” Tim blinked.

“Robin did!” He said indignantly, “Unless he told me wrong and I’m doing this apologizing and making up thing all wrong!”

Putting his hands up to calm him Tim smirked, “Heh, of course he did. You’re not wrong! I just- I’m just bad at apologizing too okay?”

Conner didn’t really understand what was funny about failing to communicate but he went with it anyways since Tim seemed untroubled by it, “So?”

Tim took a centering breath before answering, again eyes downcast, arms wrapped around his knees now, as if very meagerly trying to protect himself, “Okay, here it goes… I’m sorry for… freaking out at you before. I… I’ve been through a lot this past year and… it all just got into my head and makes me… not right.”

He paused, closed his eyes, and then looked up at Conner, “I’ve lost a lot of people. And that has nothing to do with you. You just… remind me of them, more so than the others, and that’s why… I’m sorry you have to deal me being this way when it's… It's not your fault. And I’ll try- I’m trying to be better.”

‘So I won’t hurt you anymore.’ Tim added silently in his mind, ‘I’ll do better to hide the pain and make sure you don’t have to worry about me anymore.’

Conner didn’t know what he expected, and he still didn’t know what to say or do, and of course he was still a bit confused, but Tim seemed… honest and all of a sudden young. Just like the rest of them, he was just trying to do his best, and it felt good to see someone else was struggling with this human interaction thing as well and not just him.

It was endearing even.

“I accept your apology.” Conner smiled.

He put his hand out, Tim took it for a shake but Conner pulled him off the counter and into a hug.

Tim had to be his age or older but he was still smaller than him in his arms, and he was stiff.

Trying to steady his fast beating heart, Tim slowly let himself ease into the hug, and allowed himself to wrap his arms around Conner too.

‘This is fine. You’re okay.’ he chanted in his head.

It felt longer than the few seconds it was and then Conner released him and he was able to step back a few paces.

Again Tim was grateful for the darkness because he knew his face was red with adrenaline, embarrassment, and mixed emotion.

He wasn’t a touchy person to begin with so it had been a bit much for him. He hadn’t expected it either.

He recovered quicker than he thought he would though and then crossed his own arms, his body still feeling the lingering warmth anyone of Kryptonian descent had, “Robin told you we had to hug, huh?” Tim asked.

“Yeah? Why?” Conner frowned that slightly confused and frustrated look again.

“We- that’s something he thinks is needed but… it's not- we don’t have to. Okay?” Tim told him.

Conner tilted his head, he actually thought the hug was good, and probably quite necessary, Robin had not steered him wrong yet anyways, “Do you not want to do it because it makes your face red?”

Flustered Tim stuttered, “N-no!... Yes… I… how do I explain this? People have different comfort levels. Di-Robin likes it but I- I’m not used to it.”

“You dislike it?” Conner asked, eyebrow raised.

Tim looked up at him, “I… don’t dislike it.”

“Then I don’t see the problem.” Conner said quite bluntly.

“You’re infuriating sometimes.” Tim muttered shaking his head.

“You are! I don’t understand! You don’t dislike it? Then what’s wrong with it?!” Conner asked, rustling his own hair.

“Nothing!” Tim told him, trying to de-escalate what was going to be a fight about-about hugs?!?

Tim sighed, “Look you can hug me okay? Just- just warn me next time so I’m… prepared.”

Conner wanted to ask what the hell he was preparing for, it wasn’t like he was using his super strength on him or anything, but decided not to, “Fine whatever.”

“Thanks.” Tim said as if it were a great relief to stop talking about it, “I guess you want to sleep now huh?”

“After that? I think I’ll have to stay up a bit longer. Plus I’m hungry now.” Conner yawned and opened the fridge again.

Watching Conner as he opened the fridge Tim again steeled his hurt and tried his best to push it to the farthest corners of his thoughts. This... this wasn't going to be so bad. Making up with this worlds Conner had gone surprisingly smoothly, probably thanks to Dick's coaching if Tim was being honest, but still, he could do this.

“There’s mac and cheese in there.” Tim held up an empty bowl, “Just had some earlier.”

“Awesome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all like this short update!


End file.
